Turtle Mischeif
by Da Mike-o-nator
Summary: In a prank war between Raph and Mikey, who will be the voice of reason? Leonardo? Donatello? Or the new girl: a spunky red-head that Raph calls Sparky…?
1. Chapter 1

~Chapter One~

~Sparky and Red~

I have never been so pissed off in my entire life. Enough is enough, something has to be done, and someone has to do it. That someone is me, the only problem is I have no idea what that something is—yet. I am working on it as I go.

Michelangelo and Raphael have been at their petty war for weeks now. Mike will prank Raph, and then the now angry Raph will swiftly beat up the well deserving prankster. Inconveniencing everybody within a four mile radius! Their little battle is not just during the day. The sacred little time during the night that is supposed to be restful and relaxing, is shattered by constant banging and bantering dialog barely discernable from all the earth-shattering noise. For Example:

"Catch me if you can Raph!"

"Mike you are so dead! Com'eer!" CRASH!

"You're never going to catch up to me if you keep running your head into things Raph, maybe you should get it checked out. It can only improve your looks." Michelangelo laughs, followed by sounds of metal clanging together.

"Shuddup fuzz for brains." Raphael grunts out a laugh, "Don't worry Mikey, when I get my hands on you I'll make sure you look just as pretty as me." More scuffling sounds ensue.

Michelangelo screams, "Ahh, Raph! No! No, no, no, no, no! Not the face, not the face!"

Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm Chloe Sypher; I accidentally stumbled upon the turtles when I was seventeen. Well stumbled upon might not exactly be the best way to describe it. Let me see if I can retell my poor me sob storey accurately.

I had been on the run for a few weeks. Let's just say that things weren't exactly kosher at home. I had unintentionally gotten myself into a tangle with the meanest gang around New York City. The Purple Dragons and I didn't pick a fight with just any of the lunk-headed groupie's, it was Hun himself. This guy was big, bad, and 285 pounds of pure muscle. No one wants to mess with him, unfortunately, I have this bad habit of attracting trouble were ever I go. (One of the reasons why I ran away from home)

It was about three weeks after I ran away, that my good luck took a turn for the worst. I had done some digging around town, just to make sure I was still under the radar and no one had come looking for me, when I had turned up some rather interesting information. Apparently Hun had been searching for someone, a boy and all the gangs were buzzing about him, because Hun was going from gang to gang, opening a gigantic can of smack down to get info about the boy. He was about my age, maybe a little older, and he had some "talent" that the guy Hun was working for desperately wanted, and the longer it took Hun to find the kid, the more pressure Hun's employer put on him. I hope I never meet Hun's employer, because anyone Hun's afraid of, I'm afraid of.

One particular night I was scampering back to the warehouse that I had been living in for a few weeks; I thought that it was abandoned. I had successfully evicted all the rats and cockroaches that infested the building. Also, I had found some old blankets in the dumpster behind the warehouse—not the cleanest things in the world but they would help keep the frigid nights at bay. Lucky for me, I was good at hiding, something I have the privilege of thanking my family for.

Anyway, it was late and as I stated earlier I had just come back from a rather successful scavenging escapade. I was carrying the blankets that slightly smelled of fish sticks and mold to the broken window that I used for coming and going. Climbing up the boxes that were ever so conveniently stacked directly beneath the window, I tried to shove in all the blankets at once. It went well 'til they got snagged halfway through the window and wouldn't budge, I shoved and grunted until I felt like an idiot for not just taking them out, and then putting them back through one at a time. I stopped shoving, and changed my footing, grabbing a hold of the blankets I yanked on them as hard as I could, but they were stuck, I had wedged them in so tightly that I couldn't pull them back out. Silently cursing myself for being born a knot-head, I decided to try shoving them again. I took a step back and with a deep breath I slammed my shoulder against the blankets, there was a loud ripping noise and poof! They were through! … Along with me. The force that I had put behind my maneuver sent me flying through the window. I had enough time to think _"Ah crap, this sucks…"_ before I was air born. I didn't have all that much time to say a decent prayer before I hit something that felt way squishier than the ground, and it made noise.

"Oof!"it said when I landed on it.

Slightly stunned and halfway shocked I automatically responded with an embarrassed,"S-sorry! …I had no idea you were—"And that's when my sentence was cut off when four really big masculine hands grabbed me roughly and tossed me on my face.I grunted, and rolled over rubbing my now squished nose.

Looking around for the guys that had invaded my (for lack of a better word) "home", I stood up planning on giving them an earful and possibly sending them packing with a few squished noses of their own. I saw about three guys trying to help up the guy that I landed on, and surveying the room I saw maybe fifteen other guys. The odds weren't too bad, I had dealt with worse. Assuming the guys that were unsuccessfully trying to help the downed giant on the floor were also the guys who were responsible for my new nose job, I walked over there as if I was bigger than any of them and not just half their size, and shoved the nearest guy with as much force as my ninety pounds could muster. He was already off kilter because he was busy pulling the iron giant off the ground. He landed on his side with an _"Umph!"_

"Next time you decide to help a lady up, make sure she doesn't land on her face! Ya moron!" I yelled at him. Turning to the other two blockheads, that were momentarily stunned by my actions, I said a soft evil purr, "And you two are as bad as him, standing there with your mouths hanging open like a fish out of water, while your buddy has had to pick himself off the floor because you're too stupid to help him up. Seriously it's a wonder that I wasn't killed in your attempt to "help" me up as well!"I waved my arm above my head dramatically. I took a deep breath and opened my mouth to continue, but I was cut off by a deep throaty laugh that shook me to the core.

"You're a feisty little one, who are you?" asked the man the size of a mountain that had once been on the floor.

"Me? Who are you? First you invade my privacy and home, throw me on my face, and now you ask me stupid questions? Seriously where are your manners?" I asked incredulous.

The man laughed cruelly, and came out from behind the two that were in front of him. The blood drained from my face, I knew this guy. He was about the size of a mountain, his head was smaller than his body, he had a tattoo of a purple dragon running up his left arm, and he had three tell-tale scars on his left cheek that looked like some girl had scratched him. My eyes widened in shock, "… Hun…" my voice cracked. As I slowly came to realization of just how much trouble I was in I was wondering why of all the people in New York it had to be Hun that broke my fall. I had landed on New York's most wanted! And to make my humiliation better, I yelled at him! I was so dead! I was going to be one of those girls that ended up on those "Have you seen this child?" posters!

"You know me? That's good, it saves me from the trouble of having to introduce myself." He chuckled, "Now… Who are you? And why are you here, shorty?" He said squatting down to look at me as if he was talking to a five year old.

I stiffened.

I hated it when people commented on my size. I am not short! I am five freaking four thank you very much. I would have you know that I am of average height for a girl my age, and here he was making fun of me. I didn't care how incredibly huge he was, I was not going to stand there and take insults quietly.

"My name is Chloe Sypher, and I'm here because this is where I live, you got a problem with that?" I said practically growling at him. I knew that goading someone five times your size was a bad idea, but if he said one more thing about my height I wouldn't be able to control myself.

"This is your home? How did you get in here? Weren't the doorknobs too high for you? Oh I'm sorry I guess I saw the boxes you pushed over to stand on when I came in." Everyone chuckled at this. Hun looked back over his shoulder at his buddies and smiled broadly like he had just won the lottery or something.

I stood there with my hands balled into fists at my sides, shaking with the fierce fiery anger that was suddenly so uncontrollable that it blinded me. I let out I shrill war shriek and attacked, I drew back my right fist and let it snap forward with all of my weight behind it. When my right hook connected with his face I felt something in my wrist pop, but I didn't let it stop my advance, I took the opportunity to take advantage of the position that Hun was in. I kicked him square in the nads, and watched him crumple to the ground with a satisfying look of intense pain on his face.

I smiled, and bent down next to his ear and as his voice had been momentarily cut off I took the opportunity to gloat and say, "From all of us short people to you, Grundy."

He swiveled his head around to glare at me, and let out a low rumble.

By now all of his lackey's were shaking off the shock that a girl had just kicked Hun where it counts and taken him down in one swift blow. I thought this as good a time as any to get the heck out of there. I turned to run for the door, but true to form my bad luck struck again. One of Hun's goons was a quicker recovery than the others, so when I turned around I found myself looking down the barrel of a handgun. I turned around to see if I could possibly make it to the window and out, but the shock of a gun being pointed at my head gave the rest of the gang time to recover, and get a circle formed around me, and slowly close in on their prey, me.

I saw no way I could win, with no weapons, and with only a slight size disadvantage, I was toast. Some of the gang members were armed with guns and others had baseball bats with nails sticking out of them, somewhere behind me I heard a chain hit the floor. All I could do was close my eyes and wait for impact all the while hoping I fainted before I felt anything. I waited, holding my breath but nothing happened. There was a collective gasp that went through the crowd of menacing men, I halfway opened one eye to see what was going on, and found myself looking at… nothing. It was dark; someone had turned out the light! Why would someone do that if they were going to kill me anyway, wouldn't that make it harder to see what they were doing? As my mind worked on those questions, my eyes were starting to adjust to the dark… There was something in front of my face, it was lumpy and odd shaped looking. I reached out to feel it, it was hard and smooth, what the heck was this thing?

I heard someone say almost nonchalantly, "Now, now is violence really necessary?"

Another voice chimed in, "Oh yes it is!" the guy almost sounded excited, by now I was starting to feel the damage I had caused in my wrist, it was shooting sharp pain up my arm. But I ignored it, and watched in unbelief, as four human sized turtles saved my life.

Hun had recovered himself and was now shouting at his guys to "Kill the turtles!" and to "Leave the girl she's mine."

The wall of shells that once surrounded me was gone, and I was left unprotected, with a very angry mountain looking to squash me, I looked around for something to protect myself with.

One of the turtles had taken down a thug a couple of feet away from me; he was lying in the floor out cold, his gun lying a few more feet from his body. I ran over to it, "Thanks!" I said as I picked it up, I felt a little better with a weapon to protect myself with but in all the confusion, and noise, I was afraid I wouldn't do much good. It didn't matter anyway, within seconds the gun had disappeared and I was staring at a very serious blue clad turtle.

"You don't need that." He said.

He looked very scary, but somehow I couldn't stop myself from feeling like I was being scolded. All I could say was, "But Hun! —" He cut me off, "I will deal with him. Mike! Get her out of here! Now!"

And then he was gone.

Two seconds later I felt a hand grab my injured wrist, I shrieked in pain, and a second later I was being picked up.

I turned my head around to look at a repentant looking orange clad turtle that tripped over his words like he was totally unaware of the fighting that was going on, and over caffeinated, "Hi! Sorry about your hand, we will fix it up good back at the lair, I'm Michelangelo nice to meat you Chloe. Don't worry everything is going to be ok, and for the record I don't think your short, and… wow you're really light by the way—"

He was cut off by someone to our right, "Mike! Stop talkin' her to death and just get outta' here now!"

His face then went through a series of expressions: chagrin, apology, and then it looked like something clicked in his brain and he abruptly became extremely focused. He sprinted to the wall that was lined with huge crates about ten feet high; I thought we were going to run right into them.

I shut my eyes, and held my breath, when I unexpectedly felt like I was air born, I opened my eyes to see we were on top of the crates past the window that I would have escaped through, "Uhhh, you missed the window!" I said watching the rapidly disappearing escape route.

"We aren't aiming for the window, Ms. Smarty-Pants." He said as he jumped onto another crate. That's when I took the initiative and looked in the direction he headed.

There was a ladder in the corner of the building that led to an open trap door in the roof. I assumed that's how they got in without being noticed.

"Oh." I said stupidly.

Down below us I could hear the sounds of Purple Dragon gangsters getting their butts handed to them on a silver platter.

"Hold on tight, and whatever you do, don't scream." Michelangelo said almost seriously.

We were on the highest crate, but we were still a good ten feet away from the ladder, in one swift movement my rescuer slid me under his arm like a football. He wrapped his arm securely around my torso, but the rest of me was stuck dangling like a rag doll facing the ground. Taking two steps back, he sprinted jumping off the crates and launched us into the air.

Normally I wouldn't have screamed like a little girl, except for the fact that we were now seventy five feet in the air, and flying at a wall at a ridiculous speed. And did I mention that I am terrified of heights? So I panicked and the only thing that escaped my mouth was, "AHHHHHHHHH!"

We hit the wall before I could even get halfway through my blood curdling scream. Michelangelo climbed up the ladder and out through the hatch. He set me down on my hands and knees.

I was shaking like a leaf: it felt like I had had one too many red bulls or something. I looked up when Michelangelo started laughing, to see what was so funny. I found him crisscrossed on the roof in front of me with one finger stuck in his ear.

"I thought I said to try not to scream." He said, looking at me smiling.

"I'm afraid of heights you jerk! You could have just told me to close my eyes!" I glared at him still shaking from all the adrenalin coursing through my body.

"Gees, do ya' think she's human?" The voice made me jump. I suddenly realized that we were not alone.

"I mean with a set a pipes like hers, she could set off every dog in New York." The speaker sounded like he had lived in the Bronx most of his life.

At his joke there was a series of snickers including Michelangelo. These were followed closely by someone commenting, "Hey Mike, do you think you could get her scream again? I would love to see if she can break shatter glass in the surrounding blocks. Oh, or any of the car alarms!"

Another round of snickers assaulted my ears.

Starting to gain control of my limbs again, I sat back on my knees, and glared over my shoulder at other three turtles. They stood in a half circle about five feet away from me.

"Oh you guys are sooo clever, I almost forgot to laugh." I said threading as much venom into my voice as possible.

There was a collective chorus of, "Ooooh."

The red clad turtle spoke this time with an amused smile on his face, "She's got some fire, and she's got the mouth to match. Did you see the way she took on Hun? It was like watching a Chihuahua bark at a Doberman"

I ruffled at that comment, pulling out my index finger, "Listen, pal—"

The blue banded turtle interrupted, and said, "Okay, okay! The fun's over. We need to decide what to do with her now that she's seen us. Hun is getting more aggressive with his search, and he knows that we're on to him now—"

The red one interrupted, "Yeah, thanks to _her._" He said, jabbing his huge evil looking distorted fork at me.

"Hey!" I protested, getting ready to defend myself, but the purple banded turtle butted in.

"Okay okay, let's not point fingers here, _Raph_."

"Fine, _Don._ But I was just pointin' out the truth. We need to find out what he's looking for, and why he wants it so bad, and thanks to _Sparky_ over there, our big shot just got thrown in the dumpster!"

That was it! Sparky? What was this, the 1980's? I butted in with, "Listen, _Red,_" strutting over to the loudmouth that thought he was funny, poking him twice in the chest with my index finger. "You don't even _know_ me! And who the heck are you anyway? You're a freaking five-foot tall talking overgrown wannabe ninja with a mask. You come in here, wreck my home, I hurt myself, and then you scare me out of my skin, and you insult me? I'm taller than you! I will squish you like a—"

"Whoa there, cowgirl." Michelangelo stepped in, putting some space between me and Red. "Calm down." Red's arms were folded across his chest, and he had a mildly amused look on his face, which irked me to no end.

"Calm down? I AM calm!" I said, practically screaming at the orange banded giant turtle, throwing my hands into the air for emphasis.

"Okay, everyone, _calm down!_" The blue, more cool-headed one broke in. "Nothing is going get fixed if we keep arguing."

"Leo, we know." Don put in; he turned to me for a second, and said, "It's Chloe, right?"

I nodded.

He turned back to the one called Leo. "We know what we need to do with her. You heard her, this was her home, and we just wrecked it. She's injured. We can't just leave her here. Hun could possibly come back and take her out just for having the nerve to kick—err…stand up to him." I could tell this turtle was a nerd, just by instinct. He reminded me of those little scrawny dweebs that never wash their hair and would always play YU-GI-OH at lunch all the while sliding their thick cork bottle glasses up their nose with a geeky giggle.

I stood up then, "You don't need to take care of me, I was doing just fine on my own." I said defiantly.

Michelangelo glanced at me with a genuine look of worry, "Yea, about that. Have you seen yourself in the mirror lately? You're as thin as a stick, and don't hurt me for this, but… you smell like you haven't showered for weeks."

I looked at the ground, beet red; the worst part about it was I couldn't even argue with him, because it was true. I hadn't eaten a decent meal in weeks, and I gave up trying not to smell like a hobo after the first week I was on my own. "So what are you going to do with me then? Turn me into the cops?" I asked solemnly.

There was a moment of silence; it felt like they were deciding whether I lived or died. Then mercifully, someone put a hand on my shoulder, "No, but we do know where you can stay. And if you feel comfortable there, you might even call it home after a while."

I turned around, and faced the blue clad turtle they called Leo, who was looking at me like I wasn't just someone they were taking pity on, but someone who actually mattered. I looked at every one of them slowly. The orange clad turtle they called Michelangelo flashed a thumbs up sign at me. Red from the Bronx just grimaced; the purple clad turtle Don, who stood right next to him and leaning on a really long walking stick smiled at me.

Focusing back on the blue banded turtle right in front of me, I said smiling, "You guys don't live in a cave, do you?"

A burst of laughter came from the orange-clad turtle. "Noooot exactly. I like to call it our ginormous superly-cool suped up lair of solitude!"

Don broke in, "Also known as "home," which, being interpreted is the sewers."

I raised an eyebrow, "And that's an improvement from where I live how?"

Red grunted, and said, "No one bothers ya down there. Quit complainin' and come on!"

"Wait!" Don exclaimed, "We can't bring her there yet."

Red raised an eyebrow, "And why not?"

Don began stuttering, and his face became a slightly darker shade of green. "Well, you see, she's gonna need some new clothes and a shower… and I don't happen to have girl clothes in my magic bag of tricks."

"Oh," Red said nonplussed. He turned to Leo, "April's then?"

Leo nodded. "Aprils it is." He agreed.

"Great. Enough with all this yammerin'." He turned around, and began walking toward the ledge of the building, and he threw himself over the ledge.

I felt the blood drain from my face. "Red!" I ran to the ledge and looked down. The insane, obnoxious turtle was not on the ground in a mushed up heap of meat like I imagined in my head. He had somehow made it to the rooftop next door in one piece, and I could hear belly-laughs wafting over toward my ears; he was doubled over with the force of them.

I felt my teeth grate, and I muttered, "Some people think they're just sooooo funny." Straightening up, I turned around to face the other three that had walked up behind me while I suffered embarrassment at the hands of their comrade.

Leo crouched putting one knee on the ground, then quickly looking in my direction said, "Get on."

Suddenly I felt my stomach involuntarily drop to my feet. "Ya mean… Oh no! There's no way you're jumping off this building with me on your back! No freaking way!" I said defiantly, crossing my arms, and sitting down.

Michelangelo snickered, knelt down beside me, and took off his mask. "Just close your eyes." He suggested, while tying his mask firmly around my head, forcing my eyes closed without waiting for me to answer.

"Oh sure, _now_ you tell me!"

Someone lifted me off of the ground princess style, a thick arm firmly around my back like he was giving me a hug. "Hang on tight," he said. It sounded like Michelangelo. I attempted to blindly wrap my arms around his neck, and then I was reminded that my arm wasn't quite in the best of shape for that. I let out a soft, "meep!"

"Ya okay?" Michelangelo asked.

"Oh, nothing. I just hurt myself… carry on." I said, waving my hand off to the side. This time, I moved my arms into position, careful to not bump my wrist.

I heard him shout "Cowabunga!" And then we were airborne. I clamped the scream inside my mouth this time so that I wouldn't blow his eardrum completely to kingdom come.


	2. Chapter 2

~Chapter Two: Welcome Home Kid~

From the moment he hit that second rooftop the most terrifying twenty minutes of my life began. It was a hair-raising combination of back-flips, jumping off of buildings, running like crazy, and other acrobatic-like feats meant to make me as nauseated as possible. My ability to curb my screaming quickly went downhill as the ride went on. Pretty soon, I was clinging to Michelangelo shrieking at the top of my lungs as series of phrases—which in my state of panic came streaming out of my mouth like: "I'M GONNA FALL!" and "I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!" and "MICHELANGELO IF I DIE I'LL COME BACK AND HAUNT YOU FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!" And to tell the truth, I think being blindfolded just made the whole thing worse!

Mercifully, the ride from hell ended, and Michelangelo stood, waiting for me to unlatch from him. After a few seconds, he finally said, "Uh, you can let go now."

A wave of chagrin passed through me as I finally realized that I hadn't let go of him yet. And then a second wave of chagrin hit me as I realized that I _couldn't_ let go, not for lack of trying, but my body had gone into self-preservation mode, and I couldn't muster the strength to pry my arms from around his neck. I flushed with embarrassment as I informed him that I couldn't. " I'm stuck!" I said, flustered.

"Oh," Michelangelo said, with a hint of smile in his voice. He reached up to grabbed my wrist forgetting about my injury.

"AAAAUUUGGGHH!" I screamed in protest, as a flash of pain shot up my arm. In a primitive reaction beyond conscious thought, I released his neck, stepped back and swung my good arm where I thought his face would be. (I was blindfolded still.) My hand connected, and I suddenly realized what I had just done, and I instantly reached up to pull the blindfold down from over my eyes. Once my eyes had adjusted to the light again, I found Michelangelo had a wide-eyed expression, and one hand over his assaulted cheek.

"I'm so sorry, Mike, I didn't mean—it just happened—I'm so—"

Laughter erupting from nowhere cut me off in my apology, "Mike what's the matter, you feelin' a little slow today or somethin'?" Red said from somewhere behind me.

He was quickly followed by Leo, "Does someone need to go back to ninja pre-school?"

Michelangelo or Mike as everyone called him was dethawing from the frozen state of shock he had been stuck in. He smiled, and said to me, "Well _that_ was easy." He turned me around and began untying the blindfold so that he could re-tie it around his head.

Red mentioned, "Mike, ya shoulda tied that thing around her mouth and not her eyes. Sheesh, talk about _stealthy_."

I wanted to pummel Red or maim him slightly, but felt too drained to do anything but mildly mumble, "Just shut up."

I followed the turtles to the fire-escape, which led to an opened window on the side of the building that we had landed on. Mike leaned down to stick his head inside. "Yodelay-he-hooo! Yo, April! Ya here?"

The girl named April—who had the fieriest red hair I'd ever seen, bright green eyes that didn't match her outfit, and had on a purple cut off revealing her stomach, and low-rise cargo pants, complete with blue converse tennies—leaned around the corner waving a hand in the air to signify that she was there, but currently was unable to speak to us as she had a phone attached to her ear. As we filed in through the window, we overheard the last bits of her conversation. "Yes, it'll be a large. Well, better make that two large—no three—no wait, it's better to just make it five large pepperoni pizzas. Fourty minutes? Okay, thanks."'

Mike's eyes brightened at the mention of pizza. "Pizza? Muy excelente compadre!"

When April made her way around the corner again, she did a double take of me. "Who's this? And what did you _do_?" She looked pointedly at Red.

Red started, "Me? The better question would be what did _she_ do?

I grabbed my chest, dramatically conveying my "wounded-ness." "Me? I'm offended. I couldn't hurt a fly!"

"Ya got _that_ right!" Red said, rolling his eyes.

Unable to curb the urge to slug him, I turned on him, pulled back, and swung. He blocked it easily of course, but unfortunately for me I was met with instant pain which enveloped my arm, causing me to scream.

"Yeeeeooooww! I forgot! Why did I have to hurt myself?" I grabbed my wrist, and I pitifully turned to Don before Red could get in any more snarky comments. "Wasn't there something about a shower I was promised?"

"First, we better take a look at that wrist of yours." He said, holding an open palm out to me.

I surrendered my injured limb to the masked ninja doctor, who set to work examining my wrist. The diagnosis: "It's not broken. Just sprained."

In an attempt to be funny, Michelangelo commented in his best impression of a British accent, "Merely a flesh-wound." He winked.

I looked over at him with a less-than-amused raise of my eyebrow. "It still hurts!"

Leo pulled out a bandage wrap meant for sprains, and tossed it to his purple-clad ninja partner, who began wrapping my wrist with it. It occurred to me that Leo had no pockets, and I couldn't figure out where he'd pulled it out from.

"Um, Leo, did you have that on you the whole time?"

He looked at me in confusion. "Yes. A ninja is always prepared."

Michelangelo and I both said in unison, "I thought that was the boy-scouts." We both turned to each other and laughed.

After my wrist had been properly wrapped, April kicked into "good-hostess" mode —completely oblivious to my demanding demeanor—and said, "The bathroom is right over here, come this way." She grabbed me by the elbow and pulled me toward the back of the apartment, jabbering the whole way about how I could use whatever I needed to, and how I shouldn't be too put-off for the way the turtles had pounced on me, and to ignore everything that Raphael said, which I had already figured out.

I was grateful for a shower; I'd forgotten what actual hot water felt like.

After the shower I realized my clothes were gone.

_Good riddance, I hope someone burned them, _I thought.

I walked out of April's bathroom and into her closet helping myself to her entire wardrobe… of khaki and purple.

_Gees doesn't she own anything else?_ I dug around and found at the bottom of her closet was a bag that helda peasant top that had a black lace-up corset effect, and a white ruffled bust with short puffy sleeves. I also dredged out of the bag black skin-tight cotton pants, a pair of knee-high black leather lace-up boots, no heels. Also, a black leather jacket that had a soft belt that tied around the middle.

Considering my options at this moment stood khaki and purple—a zero on my scale between one to ten of "desire to wear"—and the hot semi-Goth girl… way better than the alternative. Plus, it would probably be met with more a better approval rating than in my birthday suit.

I put on the outfit, and styled my short hair into a spiky mess with mousse from April's bathroom drawer. Quickly fixing up my face with her makeup, I realized that my stomach was suddenly very mad at me and protested at the thought of more primping. It interrupted me with an ungodly "Mmmuarp!"

Exiting April's bedroom, I hoped that the pizza had arrived. I saw Don sitting in a chair in the living room, he was tinkering with something small and round. Mike was sitting on the couch; he had one arm up over the back, his foot bouncing to the tempo of a song he was listening to on his MP3. Leo and April were sitting at the kitchen table with their heads together like they were having a secret conversation and it was so deep they had forgotten the outside world. I took a deep breath and sighed, stretching with my arms over my head, I arched my back so I could get the blood flowing again. Don looked up from his project, and did a double-take. I walked up to the chair he was sitting in.

"Wow… umm Chloe, nice outfit." He said his eyes as big as saucers.

I smiled and looked down at myself, "You like it? I found it buried in the back of Aprils closet in a bag with an inch of dust covering it." I was going to say more, but my stomach reminded me that I was starving. I slid my arms over my belly, and looked up at Don red-faced. "Sooo, when's that pizza supposed to get here?"

He didn't have time to answer because the apartment doorbell rang. April and Leo's trance was broken and she jumped up to go get the door. I looked back at the place where Don had been sitting, surprised to find it empty.

"Never mind." I said to now a very empty room.

When the door shut, Mike reappeared and had pulled off his head phones before going to help April with the load of pizza boxes that were successfully carried halfway across the room until April saw me.

She dropped the boxes making Mike dive to save them from the terrible fate of meeting the ground. A round of, "Whoa, Ah, No! No! No! No! No!" Came streaming out of his mouth as he tried to save the falling chow. He almost dropped his boxes in the process, but managed to get all of them safely stacked on the table in a series of front-flips side-steps and tossing or catching pizza boxes.

He on the other hand, ended up in a crumpled heap on the floor. I heard a pathetic moan come from him as he sat up rubbing his chest. He turned around with a panicked look on his face. "Dude! April! What the shell is wrong with you?" he said throwing his arms in the air, walking toward her.

April didn't seem to hear him, she was staring at me, or rather the outfit I had found in the back of her closet. "Where in the world did you find that? I thought I got rid of that old Halloween costume years ago!" She said exasperated.

I smiled, "I found this poor thing in a bag under a layer of dust and neglect. I like your taste though."

Turning redder than Red's mask she looked down at the floor and said, "Yeah, umm thanks…"

I walked over to the table and the first box of pizza I could get my hands on, and grabbed myself a slice. Before I knew it I was on my fifth slice and incredibly happy and satisfied. Plopping down on April's couch and heaving a happy sigh I said, "Guys, can you stop staring at me please? I can't look that funny, can I?"

"It's not that you look funny Chloe, it's just different than we are used to. That's all." Leonardo said in a very matter-of-factly tone of voice.

There was a grunt from the kitchen, "Keep your 'pinions to yerself. She looks funny and that's all there is to it."

"I think it fits her perfectly!" Michelangelo said happily as he came to sit by me. Throwing his arm up on the couch and resting his ankle on his knee he continued, "It's very Chloe-ish, ya know? It just screams "Beware! Violent red head with a bad attitude."

Everyone laughed including me, I don't know why but there was something comfortable about these guys. Setting aside the fact that they are five foot five walking talking turtles. Yawning, I stretched and lied down throwing my legs over Mike. He looked shocked and a little uncomfortable like he didn't know what to do, but he didn't say anything, so I shut my eyes.

"Uh guys, I think she is fading fast. If you want Master Splinter to meet her tonight you had better get moving." April said, looking at everyone and smiling. Her voice brought my eyelids open once again. The prospect of having to face another terrifying ride of doom made my heart begin to pound. But I was so exhausted that I didn't move.

"It's late, we should be going anyway. Thanks for everything April, we will see you later." Don said, getting up from the table. He walked towards the window we came in, with a last look around the place he threw himself out the window.

"Well it's been fun Apes," Red said throwing his empty beer bottle in the trash. "Drop in if you want to try to take the gaming championship of the world from me again." He smiled, turned, and leaped out the window.

April laughed.

Leo put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Thanks, we really appreciate this."

April cut off, "Leo, you guys are family, plus you have helped me more times than I can count. Plus she looked pretty bad; I couldn't just throw you out." She gave a tired smile, "And besides I didn't have anything more interesting planned." They both laughed, and Leo was out the window.

Michelangelo gingerly moved my legs off of his lap and then he picked me up.

I was too far gone to really help hang on so I just let my arm hang over his shoulder letting my head and other arm rocked back and forth as he walked.

"Bye April, see you tomorrow. Thanks for the pizza, I was starved! It was a worthy opponent as usual." Michelangelo turned to the now empty boxes, shifted me into one arm, and saluted his fallen enemy. With a giggle, he shifted me back and climbed out the window.

This ride wasn't nearly as terrifying; he walked most of the way this time. I think he was trying not to wake me up—although I was in a sort of semi-conscious state. I was just starting to think that the rocking motion was soothing, and contemplating getting him to walk me to sleep every night when suddenly it was a whole lot brighter, like someone tuned on a spot light directly above my head.

"Mmmm?" I managed, as I was being laid down on something soft.

"Chloe wake up, we are at the lair. Our father wants to meet you. Don't worry, he isn't mean, you will like him." Michelangelo said.

I opened one eye to peak at him. He was grinning. I could see all of the guys gathering behind him.

"Chloe Sypher," an aged man voice said. Mike moved out of the way and I could see... a rat.

It's funny, with the whole walking talking turtles thing, you would think I would have been expecting something similar, like maybe another turtle. But no, the whole rat thing totally took me by surprise.

"Uh, yes?" I said tentatively, not really sure what was going on.

The rat stood about five feet in front of me with his feet planted and his hands on top of a walking stick. He had a tattered old brown robe on, and he had a wise look to his eyes that made me feel like he knew what I was thinking. It freaked me out, truthfully.

"Welcome to our home. I have heard about your situation, and what you have done. Hun isn't one to forget a grudge or to forgive one so easily." He said matter-of-factly. He put his hand to his chin thoughtfully. "Now our dilemma has become what to do with you. Maybe we should start at the beginning."

He then went through explaining their origins and why everybody had the names they did. It all made an eerie kind of sense. Sure, the mutating goo was a bit of a stretch for me, but who was I to argue with the four turtles and rat that were more than compelling proof.

Splinter interrupted my train of thought, "Can we trust you Chloe Sypher? Can we trust you to keep us safe?"He asked looking straight into my eyes, not blinking. Not knowing my answer right then, and feeling a little uncomfortable I looked around the room for the first time since he told me his epic tale.

I looked at each of the turtles, Leonardo, who was standing to my left, he had his leg on the sofa that I was on and his two arms were folded over his knee, he had a serious look on his face. It morphed into a smile and he nodded his head ever so slightly, his way of encouragement I guess.

Michelangelo or Mike (which I preferred, it seemed to fit him better) was sitting in a lazy boy with a small orange cat lounging in his lap, he flashed me a thumbs up sign. I couldn't help but laugh and give him one back.

Raphael (I finally knew his name, but I would continue calling him Red because it ticked him off) was standing with his hands on the enormous salad forks strapped to his sides. Winking at me he shifted his weight and crossed his arms.

And Donatello was the last I saw; when he smiled you can't help but smile. There was something about this bunch of oddballs that put me at ease and made me feel safe.

Sure of my decision, I looked at Splinter and said, "I can keep a secret." Shrugging I said, " And besides who would believe me anyway? Four talking turtles and a rat? I would be locked away in the looney bin for the rest of eternity." I smiled at him.

"I thought so," Splinter said with a pleased look on his face. "If that is the case you may stay with us if you like."

"Really?" I was shocked, keeping their secret was one thing, but I never expected that they would ask me to live with them. Looking around at all of their now beaming faces I said, "Are you sure? I'm hard to live with and I'm violent sometimes, and I attract trouble wherever I go."

Red laughed and said, "Bring on the trouble, just for that it would be worth it to have ya hangin' around Sparky."

Leonardo put a hand on my shoulder, "Shell knows we are all a little violent sometimes, I think we can handle that." He was starting to go blurry because of the tears that I couldn't stop from welling up.

"And who could be any harder to live with than ol' Raphie-boy?" Mike said giving his brother a punch on the arm. The lump in my throat made it impossible to say anything so I nodded a vigorous yes and scrubbed my eyes with the back of my hand, choking out a feeble laugh.

"You can have the free room next to my lab if you want, I will have to clean out the storage but it's basically like a small apartment." Donatello walked over to me as he explained that there was a bathroom, and a bedroom area, and even a place they could put in some kitchen appliances. We started walking to the "apartment" so he could show me around when Red yelled at me.

"Yo Sparky!"

Turning around I looked at him and said, "What? You change your mind already? That was fast."

"No I didn't change my mind." He said smiling.

I waited a couple of seconds to see if he would say more, he didn't. Getting impatient I said, "What do you want?"

"Welcome home kid," And with that he turned around and walked away.

"Yeah, thanks Red."


	3. Chapter 3

~Chapter 3~

~Getting to know you… ~

Michelangelo opened one eye when he heard his door open. "It can't be morning yet Leo… I just got to sleep dude." He whined rolling over putting is face down in his pillow.

Silence…

Michelangelo rolled back over too glare at his brother. He was shocked to find that it was not his older brother but his new found friend. "Chloe? Are you lost?" He asked confused.

She was silent. Just standing there a few feet away, staring at him.

"Okay… You're creeping me out dudette." He said getting up. "There's a bathroom downstairs if that's what you're looking for." He said walking up to her.

She just stood there for a couple of seconds still looking at his bed. "Bugs…" She mumbled.

"Bugs?" Michelangelo said looking more closely at her face. Her eyes were slightly open and she was breathing deep and even. "What about bugs?" He asked waving his hand in front of her face a couple of times.

"…in my bed." She whimpered.

And then it clicked, "Dude! She's sleepwalking!" He said slapping his forehead.

"Bugs…" She said again. "Kill them… get 'em out please, please, please!" She said sounding panicked

"It's ok dudette. There aren't really any bugs in your bed. You're having a nightmare." He said soothingly. "Come on, let's get you downstairs." Michelangelo reached for her hand. As soon as he grabbed it she started screaming bloody murder. He let go and yelped in surprise, "Ahhhh!" he put his hand to his chest. "What the shell?"

She was now sitting on her heels, rocking back and forth crying.

"Alright no touching…" He said crouching down in front of her. "Dudette I'm sorry I touched you, don't cry." He said desperately.

Their screaming had attracted two of Michelangelo's older brothers. "Mike what the shell is going on? Why is Chloe in your room?" Leonardo said angrily.

"Why were you guys screaming?" Donatello said confused, and then he noticed what Chloe was doing. "And why is she crying?" he asked bending down next to her.

"Don't touch her!" Michelangelo said pointing at his curious brother just as he was going to put his hand on her shoulder.

"Why?" Donatello asked frozen in his position.

"Because she'll scream! That's why!" Michelangelo explained. "That's why I shouted, I was going to lead her downstairs by her hand, but as soon as I touched it…" He shuttered leading off.

"Why is she in your room?" Leonardo asked getting what was going on, but still wanting it confirmed.

"I think she's sleep walking." Michelangelo said getting up from his crouching position and walking over to his blue banded brother.

"So let's just wake her up." Leonardo suggested.

"No. I read an article that was about sleepwalking and it said that people can become disoriented and violent when woken up. Personally I'd rather not deal with a violent Chloe." Donatello said shaking his head.

"Agreed." Leonardo and Michelangelo said together.

"How did she even get up here?" Donatello said scratching his head, and walking over to his brothers. "She could have taken the elevator, but she doesn't know how to work it yet." He said theorizing.

"And there are no stairs… Maybe she was a ninja in another life?" Michelangelo suggested.

"Donatello shook his head, "Possibly, but altogether pretty much unlikely."

"A better question is how do we get her back into her bed without touching her?" Leonardo said trying to solve the problem as fast as possible so he could get back to bed.

"Oh no," Michelangelo said suddenly panicked, "An even better question is where did she go?"

"She's gone? Where did she go?" Donatello asked surprised looking around Mike's room.

"I don't know. She must've disappeared when we were talking. I thought you were keeping an eye on her, Mike!" Leo said exasperated heading for the door.

"Me? I was talking to you two! Plus what was wrong with both of your eyeballs? I mean why was I the only one that was supposed to be watching her? " Michelangelo said slightly irked.

"Mike! This is so not the time to be pointing fingers!" Donatello said following his brothers into the hallway. They all stopped when they heard Raph yell, "Ahhh! What the shell! Chloe get off a' me!"

They ran to Raph's room to find him right by the door and Chloe snuggling into his bed.

"Will someone please explain what the shell is going on?" Raphael said annoyed.

"Raph calm down, she's just sleep walking." Leonardo said putting a calming hand on his brothers shoulder.

"Sleep walkin'?" Raphael said taken aback.

"Yeah, and now that she has laid down I think we can just pick her up and take her back downstairs." Donatello said.

"No wait!" Michelangelo said with his hand out stretched.

"What?" Donatello said bent over Raphael's bed about to pick Chloe up.

"Well what if she screams again?... I fear the yelling." He said trembling.

"Mike, it will be fine," He picked her up and started heading out the door. "See, no screaming." He said smiling. "You can breath again."

Michelangelo let out his breath that he had been holding in and unplugged his ears.

"What if she does it again? I mean, are we going to just keep waiting for her to lie down so we can put her back in bed?" Leo asked making Don stop.

"Good question," He said. "I'll figure something out." Don smiled.

Leo nodded his head and walked out the door headed to his room. Raph crawled back in his bed as Mike and Don left his room.

They didn't bother taking the stairs and leapt down to the first floor. They walked into her room and placed her on her makeshift hammock.

"So how are we going to keep the magnificent wondering thing in here?" Mikey asked pausing. He then scratched the back of his head as an idea hit him. "And on that note, what if she does it again only makes it outside and doesn't wake up? She could get hit by a car, or kidnapped or, or…" Mikey trailed his eyes getting wide with the realization of what he had just suggested.

"Ummm…" Don rubbed his chin. "Well for the long term I can figure something out. Let's just worry about tonight for now…" He snapped his fingers. "I have an idea."

"Mmmmm…" I moaned, rolling over onto my back. I was curled up dead bug style in the hammock that Donatello had set up for me the night before. It was pitch black and quiet. I yawned and stretched my arms and legs causing my toes to curl. I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the hammock. The suddenness of the action caused me to be dumped on the floor in a heap.

"Mmmuuuuaarrrrpp!" My stomach snarled demanding food. I laughed and patted my stomach getting up to set out on my quest for nourishment. I only got two steps when my foot caught on something and I face planted it into the ground.

"Umf… What the?" I said confused looking back at my left foot. My leg was stretched out with a rope pulling on my ankle. The rope that was tied to me was also tied to my bed, which was pulled tight towards me.

_Why am I tied my bed? _Untying myself I thought soberly,_ I really hope this is just a house warming prank, 'cause this could get old, reeeaaally fast. _

Walking out of my room I stopped and surveyed the living room part of my "apartment". It was completely empty, but it had potential. It had light river stone colored boulders that made up the four walls, ceiling and floor. Some couches, a rug and a fireplace and it would make a kind of cozy underground cabin.

Heading to my right and through a doorway I walked into the "Kitchen" portion part of my apartment. All it was was two counters lining the walls and a set of cupboards above one of the counters. It had a sink, and a big avocado green fridge that looked like it came out of the 1950's. I walked towards the door that led out into the main part of the lair. Running my hand down the counter as I passed by I found that everything was under a layer of dust.

_Not surprising._ I thought to myself. And then another thought hit me, _I wonder what they have in their drawers… _Smirking, I knew I would find out later. Since last night I had been too tired and too drugged (Donnie gave me some pretty potent stuff for my wrist) to really do any major exploring into the place, I would be making it functional and clean today.

I got to the door and opened it, walking out into the lit, open area. In front of me was the indoor pond that had a bridge over it and to my right was Donatello's lab. The whole room was like a big dome with two levels. The guys slept in different rooms on the second level, while only I and Master Splinter slept on the bottom floor on opposite sides of the lair.

The kitchen was conveniently located to the left of my apartment. I walked in and grabbed a banana, wolfing it down. When I opened the fridge, a mix of Chinese food and old pizza assaulted my nose as I pawed through its contents looking for something breakfasty. I found eggs, milk, butter and bread. Standing up I turned around bumped right into, "Leonardo!" I said shocked.

"Er, sorry. Did I scare you?" He said looking uncomfortable.

I smiled, "Not really just surprised me, I don't scare easily." I looked down at his chest. He had ooey gooey egg running down his plastron. Laughing I said, "You hungry for breakfast?"

He looked down to see what I was laughing at, and then he located the egg touching it with his hand. "Actually Chloe, I don't eat before morning training." He said furrowing his eyebrows.

I looked at him putting my hands on my hips. "Leonardo, that's not good for you," I looked at the clock. It was five A.M., "and this early in the morning it can't even be considered breakfast, so nothing to worry about."

He moved around me with his shoulders up by his ears and his elbows out, making him look like an escaped turtle scarecrow. He headed for what I hoped was a wash cloth, towel or anything that he could use to clean up. The egg was now dripping onto the floor, leaving a clear yellowish snot-like trail behind him.

"I don't starve myself until lunch, just for a couple hours while I work out so I don't get cramps or throw up." He said looking over his shoulder at me, rubbing his shell with a wet wash cloth.

Re-thinking the time in my head, it didn't make sense. It was five A.M. in the morning and I felt totally great. How long had I slept? "Hey Leo, how long was I out exactly?" I asked leaning against the table.

"All day yesterday. Don tried to feed you once but that ended badly." He said looking amused.

_Poor Don…_ I did have a tendency for violence when half asleep. I gave a little repentant smile, and then pursued our previous topic.

"So seriously, why do you work out at the butt crack of dawn every day?" I asked curious. "Were you dropped on your head as a child? Or do you have a thing against my-one-and-only-true-love-next-to-food, which is sleep?

He laughed like I was being silly—ME SILLY—for thinking that working out in the wee hours of the morning is just plain wrong. "It's just part of my routine Chloe, it works for me." He said smiling pleasantly, and throwing the wash cloth in the sink.

I looked at him astonished, here was a guy who actually got up _early _to work out and modified his _eating_for FUN! Something had to be done. To hell with routine; this was an intervention. "Well today Leonardo my friend, I'm making you breakfast."

He opened his mouth to protest but I cut him off raising my hand saying, "There are no ifs, ands or buts about it. Because it's a thank you breakfast for saving me, and giving me a place to stay." I smiled because the look on his face told me I had won.

"Ok, but I'm going to help," He said picking up the milk, butter and bread that were still lying on the floor.

"Oh no, this ones on me, and it's going to be a little something extra because your being reunited with breakfast! This is a celebration of food and my kind of chaos! A disruption of routine." I said taking the food from him, and shoving him out of the kitchen.

"But Chloe you don't know where anything is." He said worried.

_Drat…_ He had me there. "I… I'll figure it out," I said pushing on him again. "Now go sleep or something while I make breakfast."

He looked at me with a 'you sure?' look. I gave him a 'shoo shoo' signal with my hands and smiled confidently. He rubbed his neck and walked towards what Don had told me was the "Dojo". It looked like an overgrown gym to me, but they can call it whatever they want.

"Hey!" I yelled causing him to startle and turn around. I shook my pointer finger from side to side, "No working out. Anarchy remember? Today there is no routine, just good ol' possibility.

He looked at me with disbelieving eyes. "But—"

I cut him off, "No buts'!"

"But what do I do?" He said completely out of his element. The guy looked totally lost, meaning that my "intervention" couldn't have come at a better time.

"I don't know, try something different. Read a book… Watch good morning America… Prank someone… You're a smart guy, I'm sure you can handle this." I said shrugging.

His face got all serious and determined, "You're right. I can handle this…" He said sounding like he was reassuring himself more than talking to me. He wandered off towards the huge wall of T.V.'s.

Chuckling at my sheer genius for mayhem, I walked into the kitchen and went to work. Sure I hadn't cooked in forever, and even when I did I completely sucked at it. That wasn't going to stop me from trying.

_I am a Sypher!_ Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays a Sypher from the swift completion of an appointed task!

_You gotta love the mail man motto, works for just about every situation._

"Ok, here we go."

Leonardo had been sitting on the couch for about five minutes when he heard loud crashing and cursing coming from the kitchen. He stood up anxiously and called out, "Chloe? Are you ok?"

"Yea, fine Leo! Just slipped that's all!"She called back, her voice sounded strained.

Not knowing if he should go in and check on her, Leo sat back down on the couch and waited. A minute or so passed and Mikey emerged jumping down from the upper level and walking over to Leonardo.

"What's going on Leo?" He said stretching his arms above his head yawning.

"Chloe's cooking breakfast," Leonardo said looking at his younger brother.

Mikey raised an eyebrow, "She can cook?"

More crashing followed by, "Turn ON, dang it!" Then the sudden sound of a blender coming to life filled the lair, trailed by shrieks of surprise. "Ah! No!—Wait! Not yet! Stop you possessed piece of—" She was drowned out by a loud boom, like something exploding. Everything fell silent again.

Leonardo and Michelangelo looked at each other, and then in unison called out, "Chloe?" Watching the kitchen entrance they saw her poke her head out and smile like nothing had happened. She was dusted in a layer of flour, and had what looked like egg caked on her face, shirt, and arms.

"Oh Mikey! Good morning! I was just making breakfast, do you want some?" She asked.

"Ummm, sure?" Michelangelo said not totally sure if he wanted to eat something that had been wrestled with.

"Great! It'll be ready in a few!" She said. And then she disappeared into the kitchen again.

"Leo?" Mikey said turning to his older brother.

"Yeah Mike?"

"I'm scared…" He said quietly.

"Me too Mikey… Me too…" Leonardo said looking at the kitchen again.

_That was close!_ I thought, sighing_._

_How hard can it be to make German Pancakes! All they are is eggs, milk, and flour! If the stupid technology would cooperate this would be a cinch! _I wiped my cheek with the back of my hand_._

_Come on Chloe you can do this! Be smarter than the technology!_

I slowly stalked towards the innocent looking blender, afraid to make any sudden movements, just in case it decided to start spewing pancake batter at me again. I stopped and watched it for a minute or two standing stock still. And then without warning I pounced on it, slamming my hands down on the lid making it impossible for the lid to pop off like it had before.

_So far so good…_

I slowly took my hands off of the lid. It just sat there, with a "What the heck are you doing? You're being a moron," kind of air.

"So that's how it's gonna be, huh? Well fine. Just do as you're told and I won't toss you in the garbage, got it?" I waited for a reply… Nothing

I nodded my head, "Good… let's do this." I reached for more ingredients to make up for what I had lost in the last crazed episode the blender had had.

By now all of the turtles had been attracted by the commotion. They were all crouched on the couch. Four sets of eyes peered over it's back at the kitchen.

Red mask.

Blue mask.

Purple mask.

Army helmet.

Mikey claimed it made him feel safer.

"Do you suppose we should offer our help again?" Donatello suggested.

"Go ahead, its yer funeral. I'm stayin' right here." Red said muffled slightly by the couch cushion.

The sound of the blender reverberated through the lair followed by Chloe's maniacal laughing."Yes, yes its working! It's working!" She yelled.

"She's going to destroy the kitchen!" Donatello said matter-of-factly.

"Ok this is what we'll do, wait five more minutes, and then we go in to check on her. Agreed?" Leonardo looked at his brothers on both sides.

"Whoa what! WHOA! Umf!" Chloe yelled from inside the kitchen. She was accompanied by the sound of colliding metal and glass, smashing and bashing together.

"Or we could go in now," Red said jumping over the back of the couch heading towards the sound of destruction. His brothers followed, on his heels the whole way.

"Oww," I put my hand to my head and let go of the blender before it could try to kill me again.

"What the shell did you do? It looks like a friggin' war zone in here, Sparky!" I heard Red grumble.

_Seriously?... Sparky?..._

Glancing over my shoulder I said, "Shut up. When I succeed in making breakfast you're not getting any." I then looked down at myself. I was now covered in the freshly made batter that I had achieved in producing. The oven door was open all the way like a big gaping fish mouth. And the cast iron pan that I was going to use had been flung about ten feet from me.

I sighed trying to get up. The pancake batter that had spilled everywhere made the smooth rock floor slick. I slipped again, but just before I hit the floor two hands caught me under my arms. I looked up and backwards at my rescuer.

"Thanks Mikey…" I said relieved. Noticing his helmet I asked, "What's with the army helmet?"

He looked up slightly at the hat, and then an expression like chagrin crossed his face. "Never mind," He said hauling me up and towards him.

I tried to stand up but my feet kept sliding out from under me, I reached out for his shoulders trying to steady myself. "Sorry about how long it's taking me to make breakfast. Let me just clean up a little and then I will finish cooking." I said still holding on to Mikey's shoulders, he had one hand on my bicep and the other on my waist.

Sure that I could stand on my own I looked up at his face. "Thanks again…"

"No problem. Turtle Titan is always here to help." He said smiling. He let me go, but kept his arms up in a kind of protective ring just in case I slipped again.

"Mike, I slimed you…" I said giggling. "I'm… sorry…" I sniggered wiping at the batter running down his front.

"Its fine, dudette," He said stopping my hands with his own. "It wouldn't be the first batch of pancake batter I had spilled on me, and it won't be the last." He winked at me.

I nodded my head and smiled."Ok, breakfast." I said turning around facing the kitchen again.

"Actually Chloe. Since you're covered in batter, how about you go take a shower." Don said, rushed.

I blinked and him, "No, I can't let you clean up my mess. Plus it was a celebratory meal for Leo since this would have been his first of many lazy days to come."

"It's fine. We don't mind cleaning up, and cooking breakfast will be snap with the four of us." Leo said very leader like looking at his brothers for support.

"But—" I said wanting to protest, but I was interrupted by Leo.

"No ifs, ands or buts about it." He said using my own lines against me.

"Yeah just go get cleaned up. We can take care of this." Red said agreeing with his older brother.

I stood there shocked; they were ganging up on me. I narrowed my eyes, "Fine, but I'm making lunch! And no one is allowed to help me." I said defiantly.

"Whatever you say," Donatello said holding up his hands in surrender.

I nodded my head, and went to go walk out, but I slipped again. Mikey caught me and picked me up. "How about I escort you to the bathroom milady?" Mike said walking out of the kitchen, carrying me princess style.

"Sure, why not." I said giving up on trying to walk.

After getting all of the pancake batter off of me I got out of the shower and found that yet again, my clothes were missing.

_What is it with these people and taking my clothes?_

I wrapped the towel that had been set out on the counter around my body. Surprised when I found large black baggy sweat pants, an oversized 'I love New York' shirt, and a large orange thick hoody underneath it.

"Ninja's." I said like it was an explanation, shaking my head. I got dressed quickly and headed for the kitchen. I opened the door and a mouth watering smell hit my nose, pancakes, warm maple syrup and bacon. I took off down the hall running; my stomach urging me on with excited little, "Muarp, Muarp's."

I reached the kitchen out of breath and giddy. I hadn't eaten a real breakfast in… Forever! Everything was sparkling clean and put away, and on the table was a ginormous pile of pancakes that seemed to glitter in the light. And right next to it was an equally large plate of bacon!

I sat down and inhaled the heavenly scent. "Oh my gosh, I missed breakfast sooooo much!" I said out loud to no one in particular.

"Oh you found the clothes, good. They aren't too big are they?" Mikey said turning around from the stove. He had an orange frilly apron on and a spatula in one hand.

"They're great," I said quickly answering his question. "Were you the one who made these heavenly pancakes?" I asked in wonder and awe.

He opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by Red. "Yup, he's a regular ol' seventh wonder." Red put Mikey in a headlock and noogied him.

Donatello came over and put plates and forks on the table. Handing me a glass of orange juice, he asked, "So what's your plan for today?"

Taking a deep draught of my juice I said, "I was thinking about cleaning my apartment and then looking for some new furniture and stuff to make it… homier."

Donatello's eyes lit up, "Great! I wanted to go down to the dump today anyway."

"Whoa whoa whoa." I said, putting up a hand. "The dump?"

"Well yeah, where did you want to go?" Leo asked confused.

"I don't know… Goodwill maybe? Somewhere less smelly than the dump." I said hopeful.

"Don't worry; we won't make you get anything smelly dudette." Mikey said smiling reassuringly.

_Why not? I live in a sewer with four mutant turtles and a rat. Smelly, broken, fourth hand furniture can only improve my chances of being America's next Miss Septic Tank from New York. _I grimaced at my own sarcasm.

"There is lots of good stuff down there, and really there's no better price than free." Leo said putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Why do I have to help again?" Red said grunting with the effort of lifting the last sofa into the battle shell.

"Because it's the right thing to do. She's just settling, in that's all." Leo said shoving on the end, pushing it all the way into the truck.

"And you have nothing better to do." Donatello said carrying a big round antique mirror, setting it on a blanket and wrapping it up so it wouldn't be damaged.

"I was gonna go smashin' gangsta's with Casey! What could be more important than keepin' the city safe?" Red grumbled.

"You agreed to let her stay with us, plus Casey wouldn't have been able to play today anyway Raphie because April made him come help out." Mikey said laughing and pointing at Casey. He was currently holding two lamps out of the mud so the girls could inspect and choose one.

Red wrinkled his nose, "Ch! Women!"

The girls chose a lamp and Casey brought it over to the battle shell to be loaded with everything else. "Sheesh, we've been here forever! I mean does she really need all of this stuff?" He said clapping his hands together, wiping off any dirt.

"April seems to think so," Leo said leaning against the side of the truck.

"Aw stop complaining! It was fun!" I said smiling; I linked arms with April as we walked up to the group of pouting boys. She wasn't really all that bad once you got past her purple and khaki mommy mode. April had a kind of mischievous pleasantness about her which made her my new partner in crime.

"Yeah, fun… I'd rather be fighten' the Shredder. All of this girly stuff makes me nauseous." Red huffed.

April put her hands on her hips, "Now really, isn't that just a tad dramatic?"

"No, it's exactly the right amount of dramatic. She aint even been here a day an' she's got us packin' furniture like friggin' mules!" He said gesturing towards me with his hand.

"I have you help me move stuff all the time at the shop and you never complain." April said crossing her arms.

"Yeah but we have known you forever

I narrowed my eyes. "Look I didn't ask for you to save me. And I didn't ask for you to take me in like a little lost puppy either. And as I recall you didn't put up too much of a fuss last night when everyone was deciding what to do with me!" I said fighting the huge lump that was forming in my throat.

April put an arm around my shoulder. My eyes were starting to sting but I continued, "You didn't seem to care when I said I was difficult to live with and I attract trouble where ever I go. And you didn't mind this morning when I almost destroyed your kitchen trying to make breakfast. If you want me to leave I'll just say so! It wouldn't be the first time I have had to live on my own…" I was crying pitifully now, and I hated that.

Red rubbed the back of his neck and furrowed his eyebrows, "Hey don' cry. I didn't mean it, I was just… I don't know." He said apologetically.

"You almost destroyed their kitchen this mornin'?" Casey said curious. Leo elbowed him in the ribs.

"Yeah, it was really bad…" I hiccupped-laughed.

"I don't know what Raph's talking about but I had fun this morning. And I don't mind having you around at all, it makes life interesting!" Mikey said piping up.

"I agree with Mike, you're not hard to be around, just technologically challenged. No biggie." Don said smiling.

"And where else do you have to go?" Leo said softly.

"No where." I said scrubbing my eyes with the back of my hand.

Red sighed, "You can stay, I overreact ta things sometimes. Sorry…" He said looking at me.

"You sure?" I asked.

"Positive."

I raised an eyebrow, "Really? Nothing is going to change your mind? Like the next time I blow something up?"

"You blew something up?" Casey asked surprised.

"Casey!" April Chided.

Everyone chuckled, "Sorry." He said smiling awkwardly.

"Na, it's cool with me if ya stay." Red said winking. "We good?" He asked me.

I nodded in the affirmative, and then I got an evil idea.

_Not quite yet Red…_

Leo shut the truck doors, and everyone moved to leave. I waited until Red's back was facing me, and then I bent down scooping up a handful of mud. I lobbed it into the air, and it landed with a splat on Red head. He stiffened drawing his shoulders up by his ears and turning around slowly. "What the shell…"

"Now we're good." I said matter of factly, smirking as I walked by.

A loud resounding chorus of, "Oooooo!" went through the crowd. I kept walking and was almost to the open battle shell door when I heard Red chuckle darkly,

"Oh I don't think so sparky…" I then felt something cold, thick and wet smack the back of my head. A round of gasps erupted. I stopped and reached up to touch the back of my head. It was mud, he actually threw mud back at me.

_This means war… _

I flicked off some mud that was on my hands in an irritated motion. "Now that wasn't very smart Red." I said bending down and scooping some more up.

"Don't do it, you won't like what will happen." He said threateningly.

"Don't do what? This?" I said throwing the mud ball at him. It hit him on the right side of his chest and slowly started to slide down. "Or maybe you were talking about this." I said lodging the other half of my mud ball at him.

It hit him on the left side of his chest and slid down to the same level as the other one. I laughed and said, "You know they have bra's that supports sagging, you really need to check that out Red."

He growled, "That's it!" He took off running for me.

I darted around the truck and headed back the other way. Passing April I yelled, "Help! Help! Help!"

She laughed, "Nope, you got yourself into this one, I'm just gonna watch."

_So much for partner in crime; she's just been demoted to useless side kick. _

I could hear him catching up. Fast. I tried to lose him skidding around a tire pile, spraying a wall of mud on a poor old homeless guy that I passed.

"Whoops! Sorry!" I yelled behind me as I ran. I couldn't hear him anymore.

_Not much of ninja is he? _I smiled, thinking I was almost home free when out of nowhere I was tackled from the side.

"Ha! I gotcha girly!" Red said pinning both of my hands to the ground straddling me. I could feel the mud start to eek into my shirt and pants. I ground my teeth and in one swift movement kicked his legs and pushed my arms up. This caused him to collapse on me. After that I shoved on the ground rolling us over putting me in his previous position.

"Not quite yet princess," I said dripping mud onto his face. I smiled because I now had the upper hand. And then suddenly I was on my back again staring up at Reds smug face.

"What was that sparky?" He said grinning.

And then he was gone. Leonardo had yanked him off of me.

"Hey let go! I was winning!" He said gruffly.

Leo was still holding him back grunting, "Cool down hot head!"

Mikey had helped me up, I smiled getting an idea. Using the element of surprise I took Mikey by the arm and swung him around. I let him go so he would fly right into his two brothers. I laughed as they all ate mud with a splat.

"Ewww…" Mikey Complained

"Ugh," moaned Leo. He had been the bottom of the pile.

"Great. Just great." Red said irritated.

Don walked up to his mud covered brothers shaking his head.

"Winning were you? I don't think so Red." I gloated.

"Really you shouldn't have gotten involved." Don tisked at his brothers, now slipping and falling on top of each other trying to get purchase on anything stable.

"Aww shut up!" Red said grabbing onto Dons ankle and pulling. This caused him to lose his balance and fall right next to his brothers with a splash.

I walked over to them laughing. "Mmmm! My favorite! Chocolate covered turtles!"

Mikey knocked my legs out from under me with a swift side sweep. I fell landing on all four of them with an, "Ooof!"

He laughed and said, "With chocolate and vanilla swirl on top!"

"Wow, really Mikey?" I said trying to get up but the mud had made the boy's shells really slick. So every time I put my hand down to get up, it would slip. That and they were trying to get up all at the same time. We looked like a big heaving tangle of laughing arms and legs, constantly shifting from people slipping and falling back in the pile.

I stopped trying to get up because I was laughing so hard my sides were aching. I had landed on someone's torso. Rolling over I found that I was laying on Red. He was almost totally black, and grinning like a goob.

"See?" I wheezed. "I'm not so bad after all. Admit it: you kinda like me." I smiled.

He raised an eyebrow at me. I brought up my index finger and thumb signing "a little bit" and smiled, scrunching up my nose.

"Yeah, alright you're not so bad." He admitted.

"I thought so. You're not so much of a tuff guy are ya?" I asked punching his arm lightly.

He chuckled, "Whoa, don't push it kid."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." I said rolling my eyes.

Ten minutes later and we had all successfully made it to our feet. Everyone was leaning on someone and holding someone up, so if someone fell we all would. We all looked up when we heard April call, "Hey guys smile!" She was holding a camera and was about to snap a picture. I smiled and put bunny ears on the two guys I could reach, Leo and Don. It seemed like they all had the same idea because I had a pair and so did Red and Mikey. April snapped the picture and then we all started the walk back to the truck.

"Awww man!" I whined.

"Now what?" Red said.

"I'm going to need another shower now…"


	4. Chapter 4

~Chapter4~

~You're only in trouble if you get caught~

CRASH! BANG! I woke up with a start from all the noise outside my apartment door. I opened one eye and rolled over looking at the red numbers on my alarm clock.

_4:30 in the freaking am, _I thought,_ is there no god who loves me out there? _

"Ugh… Why? Why? Why?" I muttered covering my face with my pillow.

"Yo shell for brains, I'm makin' breakfast and guess what it is. A knuckle sandwich! No one messes with my stereo and escapes without a new face!" I heard Red yell, sounding a little out of breath like he was chasing Mikey… again.

"I was just being a caring bro, dude! I mean I thought that a change in music might make you calmer and less of a hot head. How was I supposed to know that opera would have the complete opposite affect? Maybe I should leave the experiments to Donny." Mike said panting.

Shoom! "HA-," Boosh! "Ya missed-,"Crunch! "Me!" More of Mike's laughing, "Your aim kinda sucks when you're mad Raphie. Maybe you should work on that. I would hate to have to come save you because you're directionally challenged." Mike laughed.

"ARRRGH!" More crashing and breaking sounds followed by Mikes girly screams of fright.

"Ahhhh! OW, OW, OW, OW, OW, OW!"

Like I said before, this had been going on for… the whole time I have been staying here, which has been weeks, WEEKS! It seems to be a normal occurrence in this home, because no one else seemed to notice. But it had to stop because it was driving me insane! I mean even in the freezing winter under a bridge with only newspaper for a blanket I got better sleep. And earplugs aren't an option because I get great sleep but risk having any of the brothers sneak into my room and sit on me, dump me out of bed, scare me, or my personal favorite tickle me. I would rather not let them have the drop on me.

Tossing my blankets aside and getting up throwing on the sweatpants and a sweat shirt that April gave to me as a house warming present, I slammed my shoes on.

_These shenanigans are going to stop TODAY! _

Opening my door, I stomped out to find Mikey and Red wrestling on the floor. There was shattered glass everywhere and a now smoldering T.V. twenty feet away from the still surviving group of T.V's. I walked up to the two boys, Red on top of Mikey who was trying to keep Red's fists from connecting with his face. Taking Red's head in my right hand I clunked their heads together hard.

"Owww, what in the…" They both said at the same time.

"WHAT THE SHELL IS THE MATTER WITH THE BOTH OF YOU?" I shrieked at them. "LOOK AROUND AT THIS PLACE! IT'S A FRIGGIN' WAR ZONE! ARE YOU GUYS FIVE? HAVE YOU REALIZED THAT YOU ARE CAUSING TROUBLE FOR EVERYONE! DONNATELLO CONSTANTLY HAS TO FIX BROKEN THINGS IN THE WAKE OF YOUR AFTERMATH, LEO IS ALWAYS CLEANING UP AFTER YOU BECAUSE YOU'RE BEING PUNISHED, MASTER SPLINTER IS ALWAYS FINDING NEW WAYS TO PUNISH YOU AND I HAVEN'T HAD A WHOLE EIGHT STRAIGHT PEACFULL GLORIOUS HOURS OF UNDISTURBED SLEEP SINCE I GOT HERE!" I yelled at their bewildered faces, taking a deep breath and heading over to the couch I shouted some more as I took the pillows from the couch and threw them at the two stunned turtles on the floor. "I HAD BROTHERS SO I UNDERSTAND WHATS ITS LIKE TO FEEL THE NEED TO POUND ON SOMEONE, BUT YOU TWO BONEHEADS HAVE BROUGHT IT TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL. CONGRADULATIONS!" I said with only one pillow left I ran over to them and started beating on them like there was no tomorrow shouting, "GROW UP! GROW UP! GROW UP! GROW UP! GROW UP!"

Hitting Mike in the face one last time, I dropped the pillow and headed for the door not looking back.

I needed to get out of there and run before I exploded. Getting into the crystal elevator, I tried to slow my breathing, I was practically hyperventilating. Reaching the garage topside, I jumped into the battle shell and grabbed Leo's I-Pod. I shoved the buds in my ears turning the volume all the way up I started to run. I didn't care where I went just as long as I went.

The city was just starting to wake up, shop keepers opening their stores and taxi's idling while the drivers bought coffee and ate doughnuts. I ran clear to central park and found a bench that was overlooking a duck pond. Things were starting to get lighter as the sun rose, and I was feeling a little guilty. They might be really mad at me, I criss-crossed my legs on the bench and threw my arms over the back.

Watching the sun rise feeling the warmth on my face I sighed. _Whatever. I'm surprised that this hasn't stopped before I even met the turtles. Frankly, I think it's a bit pathetic that Mikey feels the need to prank Red two or three times a day just to get interaction with him. And Red needs to grow up and start acting like a big brother._

"Gees I hate stupid men!" I said aggravated. They have to be like twenty and they are still acting like pre-teen adolescence.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, "Hey." It was an unfamiliar voice, and the hand on my shoulder wasn't all that friendly, squeezing painfully. I shot off the bench and whipped around, Leo's I-pod dropping to the ground.

It was a purple dragon goon; he smiled at me and yelled back over his shoulder, "I told you it was her! It's the chick that kicked Hun! Grab her and take her back, I'm sure we'll get some kinda reward." Turning around to face me he said with a leer, "Hun's been looking forward to seeing you again missy," He said inching closer to me.

"Ummm, I don't think so." I said turning to run. I ran right into one of them, and he smelled like he hadn't bathed in weeks. "Ugh, haven't you ever heard of a shower, a bath, or maybe even changing your clothes every once in a while stinky?" I said looking up at him.

He had dark skin and dreadlocks twisting every which way. He looked down at me from behind yellow glasses and smiled, revealing several gold-capped teeth. He grabbed onto my biceps while a black hood was shoved over my head roughly.

I was then thrown over Stinky's shoulder, (I knew it was him because I could smell him through the thick cloth) I tried kicking and screaming but he punched me hard in the stomach knocking the breath out of me. "Umf." I coughed trying not to throw up. (My head was in the bag still, so throwing up would end badly.) I was tossed into what I assumed was a van, because I hit a metal wall and floor and I heard the sliding side door slam shut and an engine start up.

_I am so screwed, the guys have no idea where I am and are probably so mad at me they won't come looking for me for hours and they won't know where to start looking. By then Hun will have skinned me, played with my guts and just for fun, ground my bones to make his bread. There will be nothing left to look for! No! No! I have to stay positive! They will know something is up and come looking for me. In the mean time I have to be calm and focused if I'm going to stay alive._ Trying to calm myself I took five deep slow breaths, and then the car stopped. My adrenaline spiked and the door opened causing my heart to jump back into my throat, _so much for calm._

Two arms picked me up by my waist and I reacted without thinking. I lashed out kicking in the direction the arms were coming from. I made contact with a nose and I heard a sickening crunch.

"Ahhh!" Someone wailed, the hands released me, and I took off the sack covering my face. The guy that I had just curb-stomped was on the ground writhing in pain and the door was left unprotected.

I bolted from my sitting position not giving another moment to chance. I saw a fence to my left, leading to a street; I darted towards the fence and only got a couple of feet when something slammed into the side of my head.

I saw white lights as I hit the ground, pain shooting across my temple and into my jaw. Rolling over I saw the guy I had laid out previously standing over me glaring with a two by four in one had and the other covering his bloody face. Moaning I rolled over and cradled my head. Everything was going black.

_Guys, find me fast… _

"Ugh, my head…" I said, my voice hoarse.

Trying to move and stretch my body to do a mental check of myself, I found that I had been strung up by my wrists that had been tied together, and I couldn't touch the floor. I was in a dark room with natural light streaming in from above my head at an angle; it almost looked like a basement or something close to it.

"This is bad Chucky, really bad." I said softly looking around at the four plain, empty, unfeeling concrete walls that surrounded me. My wrists, shoulders and arms ached like I had been hanging there for hours, which was good, because it gave more time for the guys to find me… alive.

"Ok I need to get my head in the game; I need a plan of how to get out of here." I said talking myself through. "First I need to get down." I looked up and saw a simple sailor's knot that some yahoo had used to tie me up.

_Psh, amateurs. _

If I could get enough slack I could get it undone in a snap. I'm so glad I had brothers that liked to tie me up when I was little, otherwise I would've been so screwed.

Grabbing a hold of the rope above the knot with my hands I pulled my legs up to my chest.

"Now comes the hard part," I grunted.

Pushing my legs up towards the ceiling so that my body was parallel with the rope, my wrists screamed in protest but I kept going. I wrapped my legs around the rope so that there was no pressure on my wrists at all. I could now easily undo the knot, pulling and sliding the rope till the knot was undone. I smiled grabbing the end of the rope I unwound my legs keeping a hold of the rope letting my body drop right side up again I hung there for a couple of seconds. And then I let go of the rope, misjudging the distance I dropped to the floor with a thud.

"Not the most graceful landing ever, but it'll do." Hissing just a little as I got up, "My butt is going to be so sore tomorrow though," I told myself, my tender cheek.

My world swirled wildly and my head pulsed with all the blood in it. Abruptly I felt nauseous and had to lean on the wall for support, "Whoa… Head-rush…" I closed my eyes breathed evenly; I was already starting to feel better.

I looked up at the rope, "It's a good thing I'm so light otherwise that would have been sooooo much harder." I said marveling at my genius and skill.

I looked around, only one door in and out and no windows, "How does that saying go again? You're only in trouble if you get caught? Well I think this qualifies as caught, meaning I'm in trouble."

Turning my back to the door surveying my surroundings better now that I was down, gently probing my face with my fingers I found a tender spot and seethed. _That over-grown muscle-bound mutton-head made me bleed! And probably with a colorful bruise to match that gash._ _Ch! Numskull…_

"Aren't you a clever little monkey…" A deep man voice said.

Stiffening, I slowly turned around to see who I really didn't want to see… Hun… But you know even though I was scared out of my mind and I probably wasn't going to live past the next ten minutes I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of seeing me terrified. No friggin' way in hell.

"Oh Claude," I said heaving a slight "I'm disappointed" sigh, "I really thought we were past all of this. I'm sure we both said and did some things that we regret the last time we met. But really, abductions? Aren't you a little too smart for that?" I said softly like I was a disappointed parent talking to a disobedient child. "How about this: you let me leave right now, and I'll overlook this whole head smashing and kidnapping me thing, and let you keep your handsome mug the way it is." I said leaning against the back wall, and crossing my arms.

No dice, all he did was laugh that cruel chest rumbling chuckle and stare at me. "Do you really think that I will let you walk out of here alive? No, first I'm going to break you, make you tell me where the turtles are, and then for my own entertainment I'm going to kill you." He said advancing, with a very evil smile on his face.

I raised an eyebrow, _so that's why he hasn't just killed me yet._ _He wants me to tell him where the guys are, and I'm pretty sure it's not to share a cup of morning tea. No way, if he thinks he can beat it out of me, he is off his rocker. Plus, he doesn't know I have had any contact with them since the last time he saw them with me. For all he knows they took me to a hospital and that's the last I saw of them. All right, let's see what I can do to mess with his head just a little. Four years of high school drama don't fail me now!_

"Turtles? What turtles?" I innocently asked, wide-eyed. "You know if you want a pet I'm sure we could look up some pet stores for you to go check out, or even order you one online since this is the age of technology. But really if you were this desperate for a companion all you had to do was ask." I said shrugging my shoulders and smiling a very guiltless smile.

His smile disappeared and his face turned to stone, "Don't play dumb with me midget, you know what I'm talking about, they protected you, so you must know them." He moved forward with threatening bulky lumber. "WHERE ARE THEY?" He demanded, punching the wall right by my face trying to intimidate me.

I ruffled just a little at the midget comment, but I let it go. I needed to stay cool and focused if this was going to work. Furrowing my eyebrows, I put my hand on my chin, "Hmmm… Protected me? Oh… You mean those frog things that kidnapped me from my home when you so rudely intruded with your not so bright groupie's might I add?" I said nonchalantly. I patted his shoulder like a concerned parent, "Honey-bear, I think it's time for you to find some new friends."

He had a big, stupid, oafy version of "I'm not amused" take over his face. He gritted his teeth and said, "_Where are they?_ I won't ask you again."

"Hun, I hate to say this, but you saw them the last time that I did. They took me to the hospital and left me there…" I wrinkled my nose, "You also could use a tick-tack right about now." I said patting his shoulder again and then I slid under his arm that was still extended punching the wall.

"ENOUGH!" He roared turning around he opened his already extended arm and swiftly back-handed me to the ground. "YOU LIE! Protecting them will only make your death more painful and drawn out. Tell me where they are now and I might kill you fast." He said looming over me his mountainous body casting a shadow over my sprawled body.

This is when things started to go downhill; I had seen enough movies to know after the interrogator gets mad, the prisoner doesn't last very long.

_I have to think this through carefully, and give it just the right touch or he will never believe me, and we're all dead._

Standing up putting a little shake in my legs, turning around I used my watering eyes caused by him hitting my nose to my advantage. "I can't tell you what I don't know, "I said hugging myself.

He balled his fists, "WHERE ARE THEY?" he bellowed. He punched me in the stomach and threw me against the wall.

"I DON'T KNOW!" I screamed at him sinking to hands and knees, sniffling a little for effect I looked down at the floor. "You're wasting your time trying to get information I don't have. I don't like pain, so don't you think I would have told you where they were if I knew by now?" I looked him straight in the eye, "And if you think I am getting hurt to protect them you really are dumber than you look. I'm not that loyal."

He drew in a sharp angry breath and then kicked me in the face. I fell to the floor, and I heard the door slam.

_It worked._

I rolled to my side and put my face in my hands and cried. I didn't care if anyone heard me. I was scared, alone, and probably going to die sometime soon, so I was going to cry if I wanted. I lay on the cold slightly damp floor and sobbed until I had cried myself out. I was hurting and exhausted.

_Just a few hours ago I was complaining about a little noise. I'm so stupid… guys please find me soon. _And then I drifted off to sleep.

Waking up to someone touching my face softly, "Chloe, can you hear me?" He sounded oddly like Leonardo.

I tried opening my eyes but they were swollen shut, either from crying or all the blows to my face… or both. I moved my arm, and I touched his hand on my face. Three fingers.

_It _IS_ Leonardo_.

I shook my head up and down signifying that I could hear him loud and clear.

"Good, you're awake. Don't worry, everything is going to be ok. We are going to get you out of here." He said picking me up princess-style.

I attempted a smile with my swollen face. "Yeah, ok. Let's go home, this isn't my kinda joint. The service here is terrible." I croaked making him laugh. We were moving now and every step hurt, but I didn't care.

"You're one hard lady to find dudette. Next time, write a note or something if you're going to have a wild party with a bunch of high school rejects in the middle of nowhere." I heard Mikey say somewhere off to my right.

"Yes mother…" I said smiling. "Hey do me a favor, and kick the shell out of Hun for me would ya?"

"Taken care of Chloe," Donny said with a slight smile in his voice. "We held a little… impromptu interrogation with Hun while Leo looked for you. We didn't exactly kick his shell… but I'm pretty sure he hates us more than ever."

And then I felt Leonardo shake like he was holding in laughter. "What did we find out?" He said sounding serious.

"Everything… Raph enjoyed it a little too much I think. He suggested we play a game of ninja Polo kick thug Marco." Don said chuckling.

I smiled at that thought, suddenly feeling much better about my situation. "Poor Hun… Red is a force to be reckoned with." I said a little disappointed I missed it.

"Ya betta believe it! Sad tha' ya missed it?" I heard a raspy voice with a Brooklyn accent joke.

"Not so much you, I'm just sad I didn't get to kick him one more time, if you know what I mean…" I said trailing off with a smile.

"If I know Hun, he'll be back. And when that happens you'll get your chance. So until then—" I cut Leo off;

"If you're thinking about telling me patients is a virtue… Don't,"

"I wasn't thinking about telling you that." He paused, "Even though it's true."

I laughed and then realized it was a bad idea, "Ugh don't make me laugh guys… It hurts." I said wincing. "Let's go home… Please?"

"OK."

"For sure."

"Duh!"

"Absa-lutely."


End file.
